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PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP) — An investigation into a series of telephoned bomb threats to schools
and police departments in northwestern Ohio has resulted in a man’s arrest on a charge of inducing
panic.

An Ottawa County jail official said Charles Tingler, 22, of Oak Harbor, was being held in jail
yesterday on the charge. It could not be determined immediately whether Tingler had an
attorney.

Authorities say the threats occurred in Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie and Lucas counties. In each case,
the caller said either that a device was about to go off in the school building or a man in a
trench coat was walking in the school with a bomb, police said.

Agent Donald St. Clair of the Ottawa County Drug Task Force told reporters on Friday that the
charge against Tingler related to threats to Oak Harbor schools on Monday. The case will be
presented to a grand jury, and more charges related to threats to other schools are likely, Ottawa
County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said.

A message seeking additional comment was left yesterday at the Ottawa County sheriff’s office.
There was no answer to calls to the prosecutor’s office.

St. Clair told reporters earlier that police were able to trace the calls to Tingler’s cellphone
and that the suspect used different Internet sites and mobile applications designed to disguise his
voice and phone number.

Tingler told authorities that he made some calls that started as pranks and said that he “took
it too far,” St. Clair told reporters.

“He was extremely remorseful,” St. Clair said. “Toward the end of the interview, he was ready to
cry and break down.”

Authorities said the drug task force was involved because its agents are local law-enforcement
officers who assist on other cases when asked.

Tingler is scheduled for a hearing in Ottawa County Municipal Court on Monday.